System and method for increasing coherence length in lidar systems

ABSTRACT

Various implementations of the invention compensate for “phase wandering” in tunable laser sources. Phase wandering may negatively impact a performance of a lidar system that employ such laser sources, typically by reducing a coherence length/range of the lidar system, an effective bandwidth of the lidar system, a sensitivity of the lidar system, etc. Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering near the laser source and before the output of the laser is directed toward a target. Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering in the target signal (i.e., the output of the laser that is incident on and reflected back from the target). Some implementations of the invention compensate for phase wandering at the laser source and in the target signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/795,059, filed on Jul. 9, 2015, now granted as U.S. Pat. No.10,203,401; which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/843,227, filed on Mar. 15, 2013, now granted as U.S. Pat.No. 9,081,090. Each of the foregoing applications is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is generally related to lidar systems (i.e., laser radarsystems) measurements, and more particularly, to increasing coherencelength in such lidar systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various conventional frequency modulated, continuous wave lidar systemsexist. These lidar systems typically employ a laser source (i.e.,laser), the selection of which requires a design trade off between speedof tuning and coherence length. Coherence length, in turn, impacts aneffective range within which the lidar system is able to make accuratemeasurements. In other words, lasers capable of being tuned suffer fromreduced coherence length and thus, reduced effective range. Thispresents a disadvantage for frequency modulated lidar.

In addition, these conventional lidar systems are typically unable tomeasure (i.e., detect and/or characterize) certain vibrations on asurface of a target over a broad band of frequencies, particularly wherethe vibrations may have sub-micron amplitudes at any frequencies withinthe band. Due to various lidar system constraints, primarily samplingrates and down conversion, these vibrations often appear as additivenoise at frequencies other than their actual frequency of vibration.

What is needed are systems and methods for improving performance oflidar systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Tunable laser sources typically suffer from “phase wandering” which maynegatively impact a performance of a lidar system that employ such lasersources, typically by reducing a coherence length/range of the lidarsystem, an effective bandwidth of the lidar system, a sensitivity of thelidar system, etc. Conventional methods to compensate for phasewandering (also referred to herein as phase variance) are unable to doso across a wide band of frequencies.

Various implementations of the invention correct for phase variance of alaser source. In some implementations of the invention, a phase varianceis compensated near the laser source and before the output of the laseris directed toward a target. The phase correction applied by theseimplementations is generally referred to herein as a “source phasecorrection.”

In some implementations of the invention, the phase variance of thelaser is detected and compensated in the target signal (i.e., the outputof the laser that is incident on and reflected back from the target).The phase correction applied by these implementations is generallyreferred to herein as “target phase correction.”

In some implementations of the invention, both source phase correctionand target phase correction are applied.

These implementations, their features and other aspects of the inventionare described in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a source phase correction system configured tocorrect a phase of an output of a laser source of a lidar systemaccording to various implementations of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a target phase correction system configured tocorrect a phase of a reflected target signal (i.e., target signal)received by a coherent lidar system according to various implementationsof the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a digital target phase correction system configuredto correct a phase of a reflected target signal (i.e., target signal)received by a coherent lidar system, according to variousimplementations of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A conventional frequency modulated, continuous wave lidar system thatemploys a tunable laser source (i.e., lasers) typically suffers fromreduced coherence length, which in turn, impacts an overall effectiverange of the lidar system. The presence of “phase wandering” (i.e.,variation in phase over time, also “phase variance”) in the outputsignals of these lasers negatively impacts the coherence length of thelidar system. Conventional methods to correct the output signals forphase wandering are unable to do so across a wide band of frequencieslike those used by a frequency-modulated lidar system. As a result ofphase wandering and other conventional system constraints, certainvibrations on a surface of a target, particularly those havingsub-micron amplitudes, are difficult to measure because they may appearas additive noise at one or more frequencies within an effectivebandwidth of the lidar system.

Various implementations of the invention are now described. In someimplementations of the invention, a phase variance of a laser iscorrected near the laser source and before the output of the laser isdirected toward a target. The phase correction applied by theseimplementations is generally referred to herein as a “source phasecorrection.” In some implementations of the invention, the phasevariance of the laser is detected in the reference signal andsubsequently corrected in the target signal (i.e., the output of thelaser that is incident on and reflected back from the target). The phasecorrection applied by these implementations is generally referred toherein as “target phase correction.” In some implementations of theinvention, both source phase correction and target phase correction areapplied.

Source phase correction is now described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG.1 illustrates a source phase correction system 100 configured to correcta phase of an output of a laser source 110 and provide a phase correctedlaser output 145 according to various implementations of the invention.Source phase correction system 100 significantly reduces phase wanderingappearing in phase corrected laser output 145. In some implementations,as a result of the source phase correction, a coherence length of alidar system employing such a source phase correction system 100 isincreased, which in turn may provide an increased effective range of thelidar system.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, source phase correction system 100 includestwo optical paths, namely a laser output optical path 115 and a phaseerror path 116, in which a phase error of an output of laser source 110is determined. In some implementations, an estimate of a phasecorrection to be applied to the output of laser source 110 isdetermined. The phase correction is used to correct the phase variancein the output of laser source 110 to ultimately produce phase correctedlaser output 145.

Components of source phase correction system 100 along phase error path116 are now described according to various implementations of theinvention. Source phase correction system 100 along phase error path 116includes a phase detector 120 and a phase correction estimator 130. Insome implementations, phase detector is an optical phase detector 120,though other phase detectors may be used as would be appreciated.Optical phase detector 120 receives an output from laser source 110 anddetermines a phase difference 125 between the output of laser source 110and a delayed output of laser source 110. More particularly, this phasedifference corresponds to the relative difference in the phase of theoutput of laser source 110 at two different times separated by thedelay. Because the actual phase error in the output of laser source 110at any given point in time cannot be measured with conventional devices,this phase difference can be used to provide an approximation of thephase error and ultimately, estimate the phase correction to be appliedto the output of laser source 110.

In some implementations, optical phase detector 120 includes a splitter160 that splits the output of laser source 110 into two paths: a firstpath 162 which is optically delayed by a delay line 170 before beingcoupled to a phase detector 180; and a second path 164 which is coupledto phase detector 180. Delay line 170 introduces an optical delaybetween in the first path and the second path to determine thedifference in phase of the output of laser source over the time of theoptical delay.

In some implementations, the optical delay is selected to correspond toa substantial fraction of a coherence time of laser source 110. Forexample, in some implementations, the optical delay may be between ⅓ and½ of the coherence length of laser source 110. In some implementations,the optical delay is selected to be less than half the time within whichthe phase variance of the output of laser source may vary by more than afull optical cycle (i.e., 360 degrees of phase).

Phase detector 180 measures phase difference 125 which corresponds tothe relative phase between the output of laser source 110 and thedelayed output of laser source 110. Measurements of phase difference 125may be used to reduce and/or correct the phase variance in the output oflaser source 110 and subsequently increase the overall coherence oflaser source 110.

In some implementations, optical phase detector 120 comprises aninterferometer, such as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In someimplementations of the invention, first path 162 and second path 164 arecoupled to an optical hybrid (not otherwise illustrated) that providesboth in-phase and quadrature components of the phase difference as wouldbe appreciated. In some implementations, optical phase detector 120 maycomprise one or more photodetectors (not otherwise illustrated) thatconvert optical signals into electrical signals for further processingas would also be appreciated.

In some implementations of the invention, a shorter optical delay (e.g.,less than ⅓ of the coherence length) is selected for optical phasedetector 120 to provide a high bandwidth/high noise response for sourcephase correction system 100. In some implementations of the invention, alonger optical delay (e.g., greater than ½ of the coherence length) isselected for optical phase detector 120 to provide a low bandwidth/lownoise response for source phase correction system 100. In someimplementations of the invention, a third path (not otherwiseillustrated in FIG. 1) to provide for a first optical delay (e.g., delay170) and a second optical delay and hence provide a separate phasedifference over each of the respective delays. Such implementations mayimprove an overall performance of optical phase detector 120 as would beappreciated. In some implementations of the invention, multiple phasedetectors 120 with different path delays may be used with theirrespective outputs combined to improve the phase correction estimateprovided by phase correction estimator 130 as would be appreciated.

Phase correction estimator 130 receives phase difference 125 from phasedetector 120 and determines a phase correction 135 to be applied to theoutput of laser source 110. Fluctuations in phase difference 125 overtime may be used to estimate an instantaneous phase correction 135 to beapplied to the output of laser source 110. In some implementations ofthe invention, a least squares estimator may be used to estimate theinstantaneous phase correction 135 as would be appreciated.

Components of source phase correction system 100 along laser outputoptical path 115 are now described. In some implementations, sourcephase correction system 100 along laser output optical path 115 includesa delay line 150 coupled to laser source 110. Delay line 150 introducesan optical delay in laser output optical path 115 corresponding to andcompensating for delays introduced by optical phase detector 120 andphase correction estimator 130 (as well as other optical components insource phase correction system 100) in phase error path 116 as would beappreciated. An optically delayed output 155 of delay line 150 iscoupled to a phase modulator 140. Phase modulator 140 receives opticallydelayed output 155 and modulates it by phase correction 135 provided byphase correction estimator 130. An output of phase modulator 140corresponds to phase corrected laser output 145.

Commercially available phase modulators are capable of shifting opticalphase by at least a full optical cycle with bandwidths in excess of 1GHz. Using such components, source phase correction system 100 mayeffectively increase the coherence of laser source 110 by a factor of atleast two and possibly as much as several orders of magnitude.

As described, source phase correction system 100 conditions the outputof laser source 110 to reduce phase variation in the output and therebyincrease the coherence in phase corrected laser output 145, among otherthings. Phase corrected laser output 145 may be supplied to a lidarsystem such as that described in, for example, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/710,057, entitled “System and Method for Generating ThreeDimensional Images Using Lidar and Video Measurements” and filed Feb.22, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Target phase correction is now described. Generally speaking,conventional lidar systems typically attempt to compensate for varioussystem errors, including phase errors, among others and/or other noise,after down converting and/or down sampling the respective lidar signals(e.g., a reference signal and a target signal, sometimes also referredto as a reference arm signal and a target arm signal). As would beappreciated, the down sampling/down converting specifies a bandwidth ofthe lidar system consistent with the Nyquist frequency corresponding tothe reduced sampling rate and frequencies outside this bandwidth presentvarious challenges both in terms of an inability to measure signals atsuch frequencies and a degradation in the signal-to-noise ratio of othermeasurements.

FIG. 2 illustrates a target phase correction system 200 configured tocorrect a phase of a reflected target signal (i.e., target signal,target arm signal) received by a coherent lidar system according tovarious implementations of the invention.

In some implementations of the invention, target phase correction system200 receives one or more inputs including a reference arm signal 205 anda target arm signal 245. Reference arm signal 205 corresponds to anoutput of a detector (typically, an interferometer and not otherwiseillustrated in FIG. 2) that detects a reference beam originally splitfrom an optical beam directed toward a target as would be appreciated.Target arm signal 245 corresponds to an output of a detector (alsotypically, an interferometer and not otherwise illustrated in FIG. 2)that detects a reflected portion of the optical beam incident on andreflected back from the target as would also be appreciated.

In some implementations, target phase correction system 200 includes adelay 260, illustrated in FIG. 2 as a delay 260T. Delay 260 receivestarget arm signal 245 and introduces a delay 250 into target arm signal245. This delay corresponds to and compensates for delays introduced byother components of target phase correction system 200. Such delays maybe associated with a phase difference detector 210, a phase correctionestimator 230, other optical components in target phase correctionsystem 200, and other processing delays, as well as a round trip pathdelay associated with a range to the target as would appreciated. Delay260 outputs a delayed target arm signal 265. In some implementations,delay 260 may be implemented as two or more delay lines, namely delay260T and an optional delay 260R (in reference arm 205) as would beappreciated. In some implementations, delay 260 may be implemented asoptional delay 260R without delay 260T as would be appreciated. In suchimplementations, delay 260T and/or delay 260R and/or other delays 260(not otherwise illustrated) compensate for delays in target phasecorrection system 200 as well as the underlying lidar system as would beappreciated.

In some implementations, target phase correction system 200 includes aphase difference detector 210. Phase difference detector 210 receivesreference arm signal 205 and a reference oscillator signal (nototherwise illustrated) and outputs a phase difference 225. Phasedifference 225 corresponds to a change in the phase of reference armsignal 205 over an interval of time. In some implementations, referenceoscillator signal is generated coherently to the modulation of lasersource 110 as would be appreciated.

In some implementations, target phase correction system 200 includesphase correction estimator 230. Phase correction estimator 230 receivesphase difference 225 and estimates a phase correction 235 to be appliedto target arm signal 245 to reduce or correct any phase error occurringin target arm signal 245. Similar to phase correction estimator 130,phase correction estimator 230 may include a least squares estimator toestimate phase correction 235 as would be appreciated.

In some implementations, target phase correction system 200 includes aphase modulator 270. Phase modulator 270 receives delayed target armsignal 265 from delay 260 and phase correction 235 from phase correctionestimator 230 and outputs a phase corrected target signal 275.

In some implementations of the invention, target arm signal 245 may beeither an optical signal or an electrical signal as would beappreciated. In some implementations of the invention, phase modulator270 may be either an optical modulator or an electrical modulator,including a digital electrical modulator, as would also be appreciated.

FIG. 3 illustrates a digital target phase correction system 300configured to correct a phase of a target arm signal 245 received by alidar system, according to various implementations of the invention. Asdiscussed above, reference arm signal 205 corresponds to the output ofthe detector that detects the reference beam originally split from theoptical beam directed toward the target; and target arm signal 245corresponds to the output of the detector that detects the reflectedportion of the optical beam incident on and reflected back from thetarget.

Before discussing FIG. 3, a brief description of the processingassociated with various implementations of the invention is nowprovided. For simplicity, the following discussion is referencedrelative to the phase domain; however, in terms of implementation (suchas that illustrated in FIG. 3), the frequency domain is utilized in partof the processing chain by applying a discrete-time differentiator to aphase signal (see e.g., differentiator 350).

A phase of the output of laser source 110 may be expressed asphi(t)=phi_(m)(t)+phi_(e)(t), where phi_(m)(t) is the phase progressionover time of an ideal frequency-modulated laser signal and phi_(e)(t) isthe deviation from that ideal laser signal due to modulation noise andphase wandering as would be appreciated.

The reference arm measures a phase difference over time. If thereference arm signal phase expected in an ideally modulated, noise freesystem is subtracted from the phase progression of the sampled referencearm signal, a reference arm phase error difference signal that may beexpressed as phi_(e)(t)−phi_(e)(t−r) is left, where r is the delaydifference in the reference arm interferometer. The reference arm phaseerror difference is a sampled version of phi_(e)(t) passed through adiscrete-time differentiator with tap spacing m=r/T where T is thesampling period of the A/D converter 310A.

If sampling occurs fast relative to the frequency content of phi_(e)(t)(i.e., the frequency of the phase variance, etc.) and the inverse ofreference arm delay is large relative to the frequency content ofphi_(e)(t), then the reference arm phase error difference will scaleproportionally with reference arm delay r: dphi_(e)(t)/dt<1/T anddphi_(e)(t)/dt<1/r, where d/dt denotes the derivative with respect totime. The application of scaling factor 357 (to be discussed below)removes this scaling. In some implementations, the scaling factorapplied is r/T to create the phase error progression as would bemeasured with a reference arm of a length equal to one A/D convertersampling period.

In some implementations, digital target phase correction system 300includes an analog-to-digital (“A/D”) converter 310A that digitizesreference arm signal 205 with a sampling period of 1/T and a digitalfilter 320 that conditions the output of A/D converter 310A as would beappreciated. In some implementations, digital filter 320 corresponds toa Hilbert transform filter, though other filters may be used as would beappreciated. In some implementations, digital filter 320 outputs phaseand quadrature components of digitized reference arm signal 205 as wouldalso be appreciated.

In some implementations, digital target phase correction system 300includes a digital oscillator 340 which provides a reference frequencyagainst which a phase difference 225 present in digitized reference armsignal 205 can be determined by a phase detector 330 as would beappreciated. In some implementations, the reference frequency signal 340is selected to bring reference arm signal 205 to baseband, effectivelyimplementing the subtraction of the expected phase progression of areference signal in an ideally modulated, noise-free system. Signal 225is the reference arm phase error difference signal mentioned above.

In some implementations, for ease of implementation, the reference armphase error difference signal is converted to a frequency errordifference signal 355 by applying a discrete-time differentiator 350.

In some implementations, a differentiator 350 receives phase errordifference 225 and determines a frequency error difference 355. In someimplementations, frequency error difference 355 is adjusted by a scalingfactor 357. In some of these implementations, scaling factor 357 may bethe scaling factor r/T mentioned above or a different scaling factor maybe chosen to account for various system components affecting phasescaling. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being applied to frequencydifference 355, scaling factor 357 may be applied at various points andin various portions of digital target phase correction system 300 sothat an overall scaling factor 357 accounts for these differences inpath lengths as would be appreciated.

Because phi_(e)(t) cannot be measured directly using conventionaldevices, phi_(e)(t) may be approximated by undoing the differentiationdue to the phase differentiation by the reference arm delay pathdifference and phase detector by integrating output signal 358 of thescaling stage with a discrete-time integrator implemented as runningsum. The resulting signal will be the concatenation of a discrete-tapdifferentiator with an integrator which is identical to a moving averageof length r/T. Thus the signal to use for phase correction of the targetsignal is the best estimate of optical frequency error sampled with rate1/T and convolved with moving average of r/T.

An estimate of the actual phase error present in the target arm signalcan then be derived by duplicating the phase differentiation of thetarget arm interferometer in the digital domain. In someimplementations, this may be achieved by applying a differentiator withtap spacing s/T where s is the path length difference of the target arminterferometer which depends on range to the target and internal opticaldelays. For sake of implementation ease, the discrete integrator anddifferentiator with tap spacing s/T are combined into moving averager360 which will have a run length of s/T in some implementations. Otherrun lengths may be employed or other filters may be used in someimplementations to accommodate system components affecting the phase ofthe target signal.

The output of moving averager 360 is a direct estimate of the frequencyerror in the target arm signal, so multiplying by −1 and applying it asfrequency correction will yield the frequency corrected output signal.In some implementations, a phase correction may be applied by omissionof block 350. For ease of implementation, the frequency correction isapplied to the generation of the mixing signal frequency for the targetarm signal which saves duplicating the sin/cos tables and a complexmultiplier in some implementations of the invention.

In some implementations, frequency correction 365 may be applied totarget arm signal 245 in combination with a frequency shift for furtherdecimation and ease of processing. Signal frequency 368 is used in aconventional numeric oscillator implemented by phase accumulator 370 andsine/cosine table 375 to create the mixing frequency applied tomodulator 335. Addition of estimated frequency correction 365 to thesignal frequency 368 will create the appropriate correction signalsummed with the mixing signal frequency 368 as combined frequency shiftand frequency correction. In some implementations, an accumulator 370accumulates frequency shift and correction 369 and outputs combinedfrequency shift and phase correction 372. Sine/cosine table 375 convertsthis phase signal to a unity-magnitude complex signal used to modulatethe target arm signal with modulator 335. In some implementations, aconverter 375 converts phase correction 372 into its inphase andquadrature components as would be appreciated.

In some implementations, digital target phase correction system 300includes an A/D converter 310B that digitizes target arm signal 245. Insome implementations, digital target phase correction system 300includes a delay 325 that receives target arm signal 245 and introducesdelay 250 into target arm signal 245. As discussed above, this delaycorresponds to and compensates for delay(s) introduced by othercomponents of target phase correction system 200 (e.g., phaseaccumulator 360, phase corrector/modulator 370, etc.), variousprocessing delays as well as the roundtrip path delay based on the rangeto target. As above, delay 250 may be accomplished by applying differentdelays to both the target and reference arms as would be appreciated.

In some implementations, delay 325 may be adjusted to account for verysmall changes in delay 250 due to changes in the range to target. Infact, adjusting delay 325 ensures proper temporal alignment betweenreference arm signal 205 and target arm signal 245. Achieving a temporalalignment between these two signals within 5 samples or better in asystem having a sampling period of 6.25 nanoseconds achieved significantimprovement in performance of the lidar system.

In some implementations, target phase correction system 300 includes amodulator 335. Modulator 335 receives combined frequency shift and phasecorrection 372 (and in some implementations, the inphase and quadraturecomponents thereof) and modulates it against delayed target arm signal245 to compensate for phase error occurring in target arm signal 245 andoutputs a phase corrected target arm signal 337. In someimplementations, modulator 335 outputs inphase and quadrature componentsof phase corrected target arm 337 as would be appreciated.

In some implementations, a cascaded-integrator comb (“CIC”) filter 380is used to decimate phase corrected target arm signal 337. In someimplementations, CIC filter 380 decimates phase corrected target armsignal 337 by a factor of N/3 (though other factors may be used as wouldbe appreciated). In some implementations, a filter 390 (which maycorrespond to an FIR filter) decimates the output of CIC filter 380 by afactor of 3 (though again, other factors consistent with CIC filter 380may be used as would be appreciated). The output of filter 390corresponds to phase corrected target signal 395 downconverted tobaseband and at a sample rate of several MHz.

In some implementations of the invention, components of target phasecorrection system 300 between A/D 310A and modulator 335 may beimplemented in a field programmable point gate array device (“FPGA”).

While the invention has been described herein in terms of variousimplementations, it is not so limited and is limited only by the scopeof the following claims, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art.These and other implementations of the invention will become apparentupon consideration of the disclosure provided above and the accompanyingfigures. In addition, various components and features described withrespect to one implementation of the invention may be used in otherimplementations as well.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for compensating for a phase variance ata laser source comprising: a phase difference detector configured toreceive a reference arm signal and to detect a phase difference of thereference arm signal, the phase difference corresponding to a differencein the phase of the reference arm signal at two points in time; a phasecorrection estimator configured to receive the phase difference from thephase detector and to estimate a phase correction to be applied to atarget arm signal; a phase modulator configured to receive the phasecorrection from the phase correction estimator, to modulate the targetarm signal with the phase correction, and to output a phase correctedtarget arm signal, wherein the phase correction compensates the targetarm signal for the phase variance of the laser source; and a delaycoupled either to either the reference arm signal and configured tointroduce a delay time into the reference arm signal prior to beingreceived by the phase difference detector or to the target arm signalprior to being received by the phase modulator, wherein the delay timecomprises at least a round trip path delay.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the delay is coupled to the target arm signal prior to beingreceived by the phase modulator.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein thedelay time is adjustable.
 4. A method for compensating for a phasevariance of a laser source, the method comprising: determining, via aphase difference detector, a phase difference of a reference arm signal,the phase difference corresponding to a difference in the phase of thereference arm signal at two points in time; estimating a phasecorrection from the phase difference, the phase correction to be appliedto a target arm signal to compensate for the phase variance of the lasersource; modulating, via a phase modulator, the target arm signal withthe phase correction to produce a phase corrected target arm signalwhich compensates the target arm signal for the phase variance of thelaser source; and either delaying the reference arm signal by a delaytime prior to the determining or delaying the target arm signal by thedelay time prior to the modulating.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe delay time is adjustable.